E-book, 448 pages
English language
Published Sept. 11, 2019 by Flatiron Books.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult …
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.
Ich fand das Buch auch beim zweiten Lesen nur okay, aber dieses Ende hat mir schon sehr Lust auf den zweiten Teil gemacht.
P.S. Kann mir bitte jemand erklären, was an Darlington so toll sein soll?
Good magic system and world building, mediocre writing, above-average at non-linear storytelling, and meh on characterization. I have hope that the good parts of built here will be joined by better character work in the next book.
Sometimes you read a paragraph describing a book and you know you have to read it. Ninth House grabbed me long before I picked up the book with the promise of modern cults and magical intrigue.
It then lost me immediately. The first half of the book plodded along by piling up mysteries, including numerous blatant omissions of knowledge that Alex is fully aware of but we're not, and by worldbuilding in a manner just obscure enough to annoy me.
Luckily, eventually you end up catching up with Alex in terms of what the heck is going on in her life and things pick up. Most of the last half is pretty good, in spite of the numerous flashbacks and repeated red herrings. Yale's societies become their own entities, revealing themselves enough to be interesting but not so much as to become mundane. We end up with actual characters instead …
Sometimes you read a paragraph describing a book and you know you have to read it. Ninth House grabbed me long before I picked up the book with the promise of modern cults and magical intrigue.
It then lost me immediately. The first half of the book plodded along by piling up mysteries, including numerous blatant omissions of knowledge that Alex is fully aware of but we're not, and by worldbuilding in a manner just obscure enough to annoy me.
Luckily, eventually you end up catching up with Alex in terms of what the heck is going on in her life and things pick up. Most of the last half is pretty good, in spite of the numerous flashbacks and repeated red herrings. Yale's societies become their own entities, revealing themselves enough to be interesting but not so much as to become mundane. We end up with actual characters instead of walking bundles of anxiety and orneriness.
The twist in the climax is understandable but largely both unnecessary and overwrought. It ties in some plots and characters who seemed pretty much unnecessary for the rest of the book, which is a bit of a redemption of many earlier scenes, but it's just done so... blatantly. It jumps the world from secret rituals and careful intrigue to Harry vs. Voldemort and it just doesn't work great.
Ninth House had plenty of good points throughout, but it also just didn't ever fully click into place for me. In spite of that, the ending makes book 2 sounds way the hell cooler, so I'll probably read it anyways. Sigh.
This book had all the elements I like, but for whatever reason I found it hard to keep my attention focused on it. I'm wondering if I were to read it when we're NOT in the midst of a pandemic if I would've been more immersed. Love the strong (and unlikely) Alex Stern as its protagonist. I'll look forward to her next adventures – hopefully without the distraction of these crazy times.
Thriller mystery with fairly conventional magic world set in current day college life at Yale. Pacing builds well, traumatic encounters to wish you could make right, to avenge, to come to peace.
Where do I start with this book? I just finished, and i'm craving more of this world.
Firstly, I think Alex is an immensely likable character. She's rough and troubled and I was rooting for her the whole time. Furthermore, all of the characters are well-written and seemed "real." It was easy to imagine Darlington, Dawes, Sandow, and even the bougie Yale kids. I know these people, or at least they resonated with my perception of things during my own college years as a first gen student.
The plot is winding and I did have to reread a few passages to fully comprehend the gravity of some information. However, I enjoyed Leigh's writing and there a ton of amazing quotes to stew on, one of my non-spoiler favorites being:
The purest Marxists are always men. Calamity comes too easily to women. Our lives can come apart in a single gesture, …
Where do I start with this book? I just finished, and i'm craving more of this world.
Firstly, I think Alex is an immensely likable character. She's rough and troubled and I was rooting for her the whole time. Furthermore, all of the characters are well-written and seemed "real." It was easy to imagine Darlington, Dawes, Sandow, and even the bougie Yale kids. I know these people, or at least they resonated with my perception of things during my own college years as a first gen student.
The plot is winding and I did have to reread a few passages to fully comprehend the gravity of some information. However, I enjoyed Leigh's writing and there a ton of amazing quotes to stew on, one of my non-spoiler favorites being:
The purest Marxists are always men. Calamity comes too easily to women. Our lives can come apart in a single gesture, a rogue wave. And money? Money is a rock we cling to when the current would seize us.
For the first few chapters I did not enjoy any of the characters or how they were presented. The protagonist was a leaf tossed here and there by the winds of fate, without will or intent. As the story develops, however, it becomes clear that Alex is considerably more than she first appeared. By the end of the book I was thoroughly enamoured of all of the characters, even several that initially were more irritant than interest.
I read this almost a year ago, and just now finished a reread/listen on audio. I think the first time I read it I must have blown through it really fast. I liked it but I felt like I must have missed some details or something, I finished it a little cloudy on the story for whatever reason. After listening to it this time, I absolutely love this book! I love Alex, I love Darlington, I want the next book now so I know what happens next. I’m really excited to keep reading this series now. It also helps that the narrators on the audio of this book are amazing. They were perfect for the characters!!!
